West Aurora School District 129 expects to receive a payout of at least $350,000 as part of a national mass-action lawsuit against electronic cigarette manufacturer Juul and investor Altria Enterprises, district officials said.
The West Aurora School Board recently approved a settlement agreement for two payouts – the first for approximately $271,000 and the second for an additional $80,000, according to West Aurora Assistant Superintendent of Operations Angie Smith.
The district expects to receive at least $350,000 through the settlement, Smith said.
”We were told to expect the first portion sometime this year. We are not sure how long the second payout will take,” she said.
Part of the issue is that all participating school districts around the country have to sign off and approve the agreement, Smith said.
Since this is a nationwide settlement, that could take a while, she said.
She said West Aurora officials believe that the total the district will receive will likely increase somewhat as, per legal counsel, there were some set asides and contingencies built in that, if not used, will increase everyone’s payout.
The agreement reads in part, “Altria has concluded that resolving the claims settled under the terms of this settlement agreement is desirable to reduce the time, risk and expense of defending multiple claims and multiple-party litigations across multiple jurisdictions…”
The West Aurora School Board decided in 2020 to join the lawsuit as a way to fight back against student vaping based on the health repercussions of the activity. The lawsuit alleged the company’s marketing campaign targeted young people.
The use of e-cigarettes among youth has become a “vaping crisis” with public schools on the “front line of fighting this epidemic,” district officials have said.
In addition, student vaping had reached a level that was monopolizing faculty time, officials said.
“We spend an awful lot of time chasing things early to dissipate things that have not been beneficial to the world,” Smith told the West Aurora School Board prior to its decision to join the nationwide mass-action lawsuit.
The district has proposed to use the funds for programs supporting student safety and student-related issues, district officials have said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.